Cable’s power grab threat to share listings September 15, 2010 LONDON’S competitiveness as an attractive company listing destination is in danger of being jeopardised by political gesturing between business secretary Vince Cable and the Treasury, one of the UK’s most senior investment bankers has warned. Sir Laurie Magnus, who was yesterday appointed chairman of Lexicon Partners, said plans to separate the regulation of primary and [...]
Female workers allege bias at Goldman Sachs September 15, 2010 THREE women who formerly worked for Goldman Sachs are suing the Wall Street giant for what they say is rampant gender discrimination that unfairly favours men in pay and promotions. The lawsuit filed yesterday alleges that Goldman has violated federal and New York City laws by engaging in a systematic “pattern and practice” of discrimination [...]
New EU rules on short sales trade in myth September 15, 2010 The European Union’s new proposals on short selling address a practice that supposedly contributed to recent financial crises. But there is still too much misunderstanding of short selling, and these wide new powers bring dangers of their own. It is easy to point the finger of blame at those who borrow shares they believe will [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE NEW REGULATIONS? September 15, 2010 FOLAKE SHASANYA | DIRECTOR AFME “We welcome the proposals to help increase transparency and reduce credit and operational risk in the market. But more work will be needed to analyse whether these proposals could help mitigate systemic risk.” JAMES COILEY| PARTNER AT ASHURST Although the text of the proposal is balanced, it permits national regulators [...]
ENRC faces legal action September 15, 2010 First Quantum Minerals is suing units of Eurasian Natural Resources Corp which bought rights to Kolwezi, a disputed copper project, after Democratic Republic of Congo withdrew First Quantum’s licence. First Quantum will also inititate international arbitration proceedings shortly over Frontier, a second project in the DRC, as the miner fights for the return of assets [...]
Priory looks healthy for buyout bids September 15, 2010 HANDFUL of buyout firms are understood to be submitting indicative bids for mental-health specialist the Priory Group, which seller Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) hopes could fetch about £1bn. Advent International, Bain Capital, Blackstone and Cinven were all thought to be planning to submit non-binding bids by yesterday’s deadline. The Carlyle Group and KKR are [...]
Terra Firma case set for fraud trial September 15, 2010 GUY Hands, the founder of private equity group Terra Firma, was yesterday granted permission by a judge in New York to sue US bank Citigroup for fraud over his £4bn acquisition of the record label EMI. Hands alleges Citigroup misled him into believing there was another bidder for the troubled record label during the auction [...]
Deutsche Telekom chief faced with probe September 15, 2010 Deutsche Telekom said its chief executive Rene Obermann is the only top company official among the eight people facing investigation in a suspected bribery case in its eastern Europe operations. In a show of support however, the company started negotiations this month with Obermann to extend his contract, which expires in November 2011, according to [...]
Greece rejects debt doubts September 15, 2010 GREECE’S finance minister has strongly rejected the idea the country will be forced to restructure its debts, saying that a default would break the eurozone. On a two-day visit to London, Paris and Frankfurt to convince investors Greece is beginning to recover from its economic crisis, George Papaconstantinou told the Financial Times a Greek default [...]
Part time jobs fuel surge in employment September 15, 2010 THE NUMBER of people in employment grew at the fastest rate since records began in the three months to July, official figures revealed yesterday – boosted by a surge in part-time workers as employers cut back on working hours. Employment for the quarter rose by 286,000 to 29.16m, representing a 0.4 per cent rise in [...]